Critical Analysis by Dr. Balmuth, Editor

Dr. Travis's study has broken the ground for scientific research on the Southern Entrance Theory. SERF congratulates him and his research assistants in undertaking this time consuming task.

I do have a few questions about the study:

  1. If the actual data could be posted, that would be appreciated, so that we may analyze it ourselves.
  2. The study was conducted by a faculty and graduates students at the university promoting the southern entrance theory. At many universities there is a pressure to "publish or perish." The results were presented to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and the faculty of MUM at Vlodrop Holland. In the presence of the founder of his employer, and in front of his colleagues, there may have been an unconscious pressure to present results that are favorable to the theory.
  3. The study was done only on one small town, Fairfield, one of the few places where a placebo effect may be present. So, the study needs to be replicated on a larger scale
  4. Most of the houses in Fairfield are oriented north or south, which would mean that the east and west entrances would be the most common minor entrances. What if the burlars mostly used the east entrance? What would this say about auspicious influences coming from the east? Do burglars avoid south entrances in observance of Sthapatya-ved?
  5. In Fairfield, it gets quite cold in the winters. To gain maximum benefit from the sunlight, home owners may tend to have their windows and entrances towards the south. There may be a majority of homes facing south. This may explain the higher incidence of ANYTHING in southern facing homes.
  6. The data indicates that the West was the best orientation. This contradicts sthapatya-veda's premise that the west is "inauspicious." The most aupicous east came in as a tie for second with less auspicous north.

Please email with any additional information or comments about this study. - Editor

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